The DeNA (nee Yokohama) BayStars rolled in to QVC on a damp Wednesday evening fronted by their ace, Daisuke Miura. 9 innings later Our Marines had been completely shutdown as Miura and Co. emerged on top via a a 3-0 shutout. With the loss, Chiba has dropped 4 in a row and the lead in the Pacific League is down to 1.5 games.

The game felt much like Saturday’s game at Koshien, although with much less hope for the men from Makuhari (and no screw job from the umpires). Yuji Nishino and his 6-1 record got the start tonight, and while he pitched perfectly adequately (6.1 innings pitched, 5 hits, 6 Ks, 4 BBs, 2 ER) it was by no means enough when Hama no Bancho was pitching so well.

The Scoring
This game was scoreless until the 5th inning, when Aranami led off with a single. A sac bunt and a walk to Ishikawa late, runners on 1st and second with one out, and Morgan hits a single to center plating Aranami. 1-0 DeNA.

In the 7th, Aranami was on second again after a walk and another sac bunt. Hattori took over for Nishino at this point. Ishikawa singled to move Aranami to third, and Morgan delivered yet again, grounding out but scoring Aranami making it 2-0 DeNA.

Hattori was pulled after the Morgan RBI ground out. Minami entered, and promptly gave up a deep double to Tamura. It was beyond the point where Okada could reach so you know it was a solid knock. Ishikawa scores and DeNA is sitting on an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Lotte At The Plate
……..

OK, maybe that’s slightly unfair but man, we had no chances at all in this game. Out in right field, we never even got a chance theme going. By my recollection the only runner that even reached scoring position was T OGINO in the 8th, who pinch hit for Emura and doubled. The only good thing to come from the offense was the return of fan-favorite Ohmatsu to the starting lineup. He accounted for two of the Lotte 4 hits on the evening (the aforementioned T OGINO double and a first inning Iguchi single being the other two). It’d be great if he could hit again like he did in 2009 and 2010 for us.

Miura’s final line – 9 innings, 4 hits, 4 Ks, 2 BBs, and no runs. That’s tough pitching.

Other Notes

• Karakawa gets the start vs Takasaki in the final game of the season for the two teams. Karakawa has had quality starts in 5 of the past 6 games so let’s hope he continues the nice pitching.
• Kakunaka has had a miserable past 4 games. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sits for a game or so if the poor hitting continues, though it’s unlikely vs righty Takasaki. You never know with Itoh-Kantoku, though.
• It looks like Satozaki might be back at ichi-gun next week! I want to see Emura develop and have more chance to play but we could definitely use the stability of Satozaki behind the plate.